
E LITTLE CLASSIC SERIES 


Story of 
Leather, 
Boots and 
Shoes 


A.FLANAGAN COMPANY 

















































































































































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Abridged. 

2825 Who Stole the Bird’s Nest, and 

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2829 Escape at Bedtime, and Other 

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2830 My Ship and I, and Other Poems. 


PUBLISHED BY 

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 

CHICAGO 




The Story of 

Leather, Boots and Shoes 


\ , rj*' > 

<? BY 

W. F. ROCHELEAU 


w 


1923 

A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 
CHICAGO 


COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY A. FLANAGAN COMPANY 






Printed in the United States of America 
©C1A690305 

HCV 2 q ■22 





LEATHER 



/ S YOU probably 
L k n o w, a 11 

% leather is 

made from 
the skins of 
animals by 
a process called 
tanning or t aw¬ 
ing, which is but 
a modified form 
of tanning. Physi¬ 
ology tells us that 
the skin consists 
of two layers, the 
dermis, or true 
skin, and the epi- 
dermis, or sur¬ 
face skin. The dermis is made up of fibers 
compactly interlaced and woven together. 
These fibers contain a large proportion of the 
substance like that from which glue and gela¬ 
tin are made when it is boiled. The skins 
of animals do not differ in this particular from 
that of the human system, and it is the der- 







mis of these skins that is changed into leather 
by tanning. Many years ago it was discov¬ 
ered that the barks of certain trees, such as 
oak and hemlock, and the leaves of other plants, 
like the sumach, contain substances which would 
unite with the gelatin in the fiber of the skin, 
and, in the course of time, change it into a hard, 
tough substance. This, in the main, is the proc¬ 
ess of tanning. 

When the hides reach the tannery, they are 
usually packed in salt to prevent decay. The 
first step is to clean and soften them. This 
requires several days’ soaking in water, followed 
by a thorough washing. They are next placed 
in a strong solution of lime for a number of days 
to loosen the hair, so it can be easily removed. 
This is done by a process called beaming. The 
workman places the hide on a bench having a 
round upper surface, and two legs about three 
feet high at one end, while the other end rests 
upon the floor. He now takes a knife having a 
dull edge, and the blade shaped to fit the surface 
of the bench, and with this proceeds to scrape off 
the hair. The hides are again thoroughly 
washed, and then placed in a solution known as 
the “bate,” which prepares them for the tanning 
process. 

The bark is ground and steeped, and the hides 
are soaked in the liquor thus obtained. Some¬ 
times the hides are packed in vats with layers of 
4 


bark between them, in addition to the solution. 
The length of time required to tan the skin 
depends upon its thickness and upon the quality 
and kind of leather desired. Continuous study 
of the process, and impravements in the material 
and machinery used, have succeeded in improv¬ 
ing the quality of leather, as well as in short¬ 
ening the time required for tanning, and also 
reducing the price of the product. 

But little change has been made in the process 
of tanning, as the chemical action on the skins 
must be the same that it was at the beginning of 
the art. The changes 
have been in the methods 
of working, and these 
have been brought about 
by the invention of ma¬ 
chines for doing many 
parts of the work which 
were formerly performed 
by hand labor. Several of 
these machines consist of 
sets of rolls and polishing 
wheels, and are used in 
finishing the leather* By 
their use what before required hours of hard 
work, can now be accomplished in a few minutes. 

Sole leather is made from the backs and 
shoulders of the hides of cattle and buffalo, and 
requires a longer time to tan than the thinner 










skins used for the uppers of shoes. These are 
usually made from the hides of calves, young 
cattle, and a small breed of cattle common in 
Russia, India, and Africa. All light and spongy 
leather, like morocco and its imitations, are 
made from the skins of sheep and goats. Alli¬ 
gator skins were first tanned in Louisiana about 


1855, and since that 
time the manufac¬ 
ture of this sort of 
leather has devel- 
o p e d into quite an 
industry. Russia and 
Cordovan are vari¬ 
eties which o r i g i - 
nated in Europe, but 
are now manufac¬ 
tured in this country. 
The so - called mo- 



POLISHING MACHINE 


rocco is a modification and improvement of the 
Cordovan, and is extensively used in bookbind¬ 
ing and the covering of cases. 

There are three kinds of leather, based on the 
methods of manufacture. Tanned leather is 
made by combining the gelatin of the skin with 
the tannin of the barks of trees. Tawed leather 
is made by combining the gelatin with the salts 
of certain minerals. Shamoyed leather is made 
by combining the gelatin with oils and fatty sub¬ 
stances. The tawed and shamoyed are used for 
6 


gloves, clothing, and various domestic purposes. 
Some of the finer qualities are finished in highly 
ornamental colors, but the red tanned leather is 
the oldest in this country and takes precedence 
over all other varieties. 

The location of tanneries has been determined 
largely by the distribution of tanning materials. 
Naturally the centers of the leather trade have 
followed the tanneries. Hemlock bark is found 
quite generally in Pennsylvania, and the States 
along the Alleghany range to the north of it, in 
Canada, and in some sections around the Great 
Lakes. New York is the largest leather market 
in the United States, with Boston next in impor¬ 
tance. Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Chicago are 
also important centers. New York, Pennsylva¬ 
nia, and Massachusetts are the leading States in 
the manufacture of leather, while Maine, Illinois, 
and Ohio have the industry well developed, and 
the annual output for the entire country ex¬ 
ceeds $600,000,000. 


7 


BOOTS AND SHOES 


HOES are undoubtedly one of the 
oldest articles of dress. The 
first shoes were mere san¬ 
dals for the protection of 
the foot. But even in so sim¬ 
ple an article as this we find 
national taste displayed at an 
early date. The Egyptians 
used sandals of palm leaves 
and leather, while the He¬ 
brews preferred linen or even wood. These 
were fastened to the foot by thongs, or cords 
passing over the ball of the foot and around the 
ankle. The men among the ancient Greeks 
went bare-footed, but the women early began to 
wear a covering for the foot, and from this 
beginning the custom became general. The 
Romans seem to have taken the custom from 
the Greeks, and when the shoe was once intro¬ 
duced into these nations, a multiplicity of styles 
soon followed. 

Among the royal households and aristocracy 



the shoe early became a distinguished article of 
dress. We read that in the days of Richard II., 
of England, the points at the toe had increased 
to such length that they reached the knee, to 
which they were attached by gold or silver 
chains. The upper parts were cut to imitate the 
windows of a church, and the whole shoe was 
very conspicuous. For nearly three hundred 
years did the clergy, the popes, and public offi¬ 
cers strive to abolish this extravagant, and what 
would seem to be foolish, custom. Finally, by 
act of Parliament in about the middle of the 
fifteenth century, shoemakers were prohibited 
from making for the unprivileged classes any 
shoes with points more than two inches long. 
But it seems that the shoemakers of that day 
were equal to the emergency which often con¬ 
fronts their modern representatives. They must 
have something for style, and when they were 
prohibited from extending the toe lengthwise, 
they began to increase its width, and we find in 
the days of Queen Mary another decree restrict¬ 
ing the width of the toe to six inches. 

The shoe of the sixteenth century in Europe, 
and among the court classes, was an elaborate 
article of leather and cloth, often ornamented 
with gold, silver, and jewels. Among all civil¬ 
ized nations the shoe is a badge of distinction. 
But the most strange and unnatural shoe is that 
of the Chinese lady of rank. From infancy the 
9 


growth of her feet has been checked by band¬ 
ages at the expense of extreme suffering and 
inconvenience, for the higher she is in rank the 
smaller her feet must be, and it is customary to 
find women in China who can wear shoes three 
and four inches long. These shoes are usually 
made of silk and richly ornamented; durability 
is of little consequence, for the poor woman has 
sacrificed her ability to walk, and must remain a 
cripple all her life. 

Among the peasantry of Europe the wooden 
shoe, or French “sabot,” has been in common use 
for centuries. It is durable, cheap, and said by 
the wearer to be comfortable. We occasionally 
find these shoes on the market in the United 
States in towns where the surrounding country 
is largely settled by immigrants. The older 
people in these communities still cling to the 
customs of their native land and prefer the 
wooden shoe to that of a more modern and com¬ 
fortable make. 

The early settlers of America did not desire 
stylish shoes. But they were in great need of a 
covering for the foot which would serve as a 
protection against the cold and the rough 
ground which they worked. Some attempted to 
use the moccasins of the Indians, but they were 
not durable for such work as clearing the land 
and breaking it up for tillage. The shoemaker 
was an early necessity in the colonies, and we 
10 


find him among the earliest craftsmen who came 
to the New World. 

Among the records of Plymouth colony there 
is an old document bearing the date of 1629, 
stating that Thomas Beard with “hides” both 
upper and 
bottom was 
shipped out 
on the May¬ 
flower, and 
the gov¬ 
ernor was 
r e c o m - 
mended to 
give him 
“ lodging 
and diet.” 

Beard must 
have been 
heartily 
welcomed 
by the colo¬ 
nists, for we 
learn that 

he was presented with fifty acres of land in addi¬ 
tion to his living, as recommended to the gov¬ 
ernor of the colony. The shoe-making industry 
of the United States had its origin in Lynn, 
Mass., which city has since become the largest 
shoe-manufacturing center in the country, if 
ll 



MAKING SHOES BY HAND 

























not in the world, and is known as “The City of 
Shoes.” 

In the beginning, the shoemaker traveled from 
house to house with his kit of tools, working up 
the leather of the family. The tools were poor, 



the leather was usually of an inferior quality, the 
workman was unskilled, and the product any¬ 
thing but what the well-dressed lady or gentle¬ 
man of to-day would care to appear abroad in. 
Yet it gave necessary protection and a good 
degree of comfort to the wearer. The industry 
in and around Lynn soon grew to such propor- 
12 


















tions as to call for the erection of shops, and the 
shoemaker stopped traveling. But this custom 
was continued for many years among the more 
sparsely settled portions of New England, and 
the writer distinctly remembers when it was in 
vogue among the Canadian farmers of the Prov¬ 
ince of Quebec, and almost under the shadow of 
Mount Royal. 

The old-fashioned shoe shop was a small one- 
story building containing a room from 12 to 15 
feet square, with windows at the ends and side, 
and a fireplace in one corner. The workmen 
had their benches placed around the sides of the 
room and here with their tools, which comprised 
a hammer, lap-stone, knives, and hones, master- 
workman, journeyman, and apprentice met on 
the same level, and shared alike. 

The occupation was one which induced to 
steady habits, and gave plenty of opportunity 
for meditation. We find that the old-time shoe¬ 
maker was, with scarcely an exception, a man of 
good habits, strong character, and an excellent 
citizen. It was of men like these that Whittier 
wrote:— 

The foremost still, by day or night, 

. On moated mound or heather, 

Where’er the need of trampled right 
' Brought toiling men together; 

Where the free burghers from the wall 
Defied the mail-clad master, 

13 


Than yours, at Freedom’s trumpet-call. 

No craftsman rallied faster. 

Let foplings sneer, let fools deride,— 

Ye heed no idle scorner; 

Free hands and hearts are still your pride, 

And duty done, your honor. 

Ye dare to trust for honest fame, 

The jury time empanels, 

And leave to truth each noble name 
Which glorifies your annals. 
********* 

The red brick to mason’s hand, 

The brown earth to the tillers, 

The shoe in yours shall wealth command, 

Like fairy Cinderella’s!. 

As they who shunned the household maid 
Beheld the crown upon her, 

So all shall see your toil repaid 
With hearth and home and honor. 

The essential parts of a shoe are the upper, the 
sole, and the heel stiffening. These may be fur¬ 
ther subdivided into the vamp for covering the 
front of the foot, the large and small quarters 
for encircling the ankle, and the button piece for 
the uppers; and the outer and inner sole and 
heel for the bottoms. The shoemaker must sew 
these pieces together in the desired form, fasten 
them to the sole which has been previously cut, 
attach the heel and give the whole the finish and 
style necessary to fit it for the market. 

14 


Whatever machines are used in making a shoe 
must do these various lines of work. Modern 
inventions have necessitated the subdivision of 
these operations to the minutest detail, and per- 



i, large quarter; 2, vamp; 3, small quarter; 4, button piece; 
5, drill lining; 6, glove button-piece lining; 7, heel lining stay; 
8, button stay; 9, top stay; 10, heel stiffener; 11, sole lining; 12, 
inner sole; 13, outer sole; 14, heel lifts (six); 15, steel shank, 16, 
rand. 

fected machines for performing them all success¬ 
fully, even much better than could be done by 
hand labor. 

The modern shoe factory with its complex 
machinery and large number of operatives has 
been an institution of slow growth, and has 
developed as the demands upon the trade have 
called for larger facilities. From the unshapely 
15 







shoe of the traveling cobbler, came the well-made 
shoe of the old hand-shop—indeed, the shoe¬ 
makers of Lynn and vicinity became so skillful 
before the Revolution that a Boston paper bear¬ 
ing the date of 1764 speaks of the women’s shoes 
made in that town as being superior to those 
imported from the mother country. 

The Revolution gave a great impetus to the 
industry, as the demand for boots for the Conti¬ 
nental army was far beyond the ability of the 
shops to supply. After the war, however, heavy 
importations of shoes from England caused a 
decline, but the country recovered from this in 
the course of a few years, and the shoemakers 
became more prosperous than ever. Still all the 
work was done by hand, and without any division 
of labor. A pair of shoes a day per man was 
considered a good output, and in this way the 
work went on for many years. Finally, some 
enterprising manufacturers conceived the idea 
of grouping their workmen, consequently several 
shops were combined. Some of the workmen 
were given the cutting, others the sewing of the 
uppers, and others the fastening on of the sole. 
The advantages of this plan were at once so 
apparent that it soon became general. Much of 
the lighter work was let out to women to be 
done in the home, and “Hannah Binding Shoes” 
could be found in almost every household in 
Eastern Massachusetts. 

16 


This was really the beginning of the factory 
system. The rolling machine seems to be the 
first machine introduced, and this was in 1850. 
By means of this a workman could accomplish in 
a minute what would take him a half hour to do 
with his hammer and lap-stone: viz., to press the 
sole leather together so as to make it compact, 
and at the same time pliable for working. The 
splitting machine soon followed. By the use of 
this the leather was made of uniform thickness. 
Before the introduction of this machine all par¬ 
ing down had to be done by hand. This required 
a good deal of time, and did not secure as good 
results as could be obtained with machinery. 
These machines were operated by hand or foot 
power. 

It was, however, left for the sewing machine 
to revolutionize the shoe industry. Within a few 
years from its first appearance, we find various 
modifications of it in the shoe factory, each 
made for its special kind of work. The next 
great invention was the McKay sewing machine 
for sewing the sole to the uppers. In the hands 
of a skillful operator this machine will sew the 
soles on to 800 pairs of woman’s shoes in ten 
hours. Other machines for fastening the soles 
with wire, and also with nails, have been invented, 
and are now in constant use in all large facto¬ 
ries. At first shoes made by these machines did 
not have as good a finish as those made by 


hand; but the invention of the Goodyear welt 
machine, which grooves the sole for sewing, now 
enables the machine to rival the most skilled 
workman. Two other machines which have 
added much to the efficiency of the factory are 
the Bigelow heeling and attaching machines. 
The first presses the leather heel into a solid 
mass, and sets the nails ready for driving; the 
second with a single motion fixes the heel in 
place. Machines for cutting the soles, shaping 
and finishing the heel, blacking, and polishing 
are also found in great variety. Each does its 
special work. In fact, in the modern shoe fac¬ 
tory, the work of the operators may be said to 
consist in passing the pieces from one machine 
to another until they come from the last a fin¬ 
ished shoe. In no other industry is the division 
of labor more perfect, or is there a larger pro¬ 
portion performed by machinery. 

THE MANUFACTURE 

Let us now follow the leather through the fac¬ 
tory, and see how it becomes a shoe in passing 
through the hands of a large number of oper¬ 
atives and being treated by these numerous 
machines. The factory is divided into three 
departments: that in which the work is done 
on the soles, that in which it is done on the 
uppers, and that in which the shoe is put 
together. 


18 


CN THE CUTTING ROOM 









































































































































































































































































































































The first process is that of cutting, and we will 
begin with this in the department of the uppers. 
This is all hand labor. We find workmen stand¬ 
ing before high tables, each with a pile of stock 
beside him. Each cutter has a full set of pat¬ 
terns, and a small knife with a narrow blade so 
bent at the point as to somewhat resemble a 
hook. This knife he keeps very sharp. The 
cutter must plan his work so as to get the largest 
number of pieces out of each skin, and also to 
cut the vamp from that portion which is the 
most durable, and to cut it with his pattern in 
such a position as' to have the length run the 
right way of the leather, or it will not finish well. 
One might think that these problems would lead 
to hesitation over each new skin, but the prac¬ 
ticed eye of the cutter enables him to see at a 
glance what he can do to the best advantage, 
and he rapidly lays pattern after pattern, and 
runs his knife around it until no pieces remain 
large enough to work up. So carefully is the 
work planned that scarcely any waste remains 
after the cutting. The linings are also cut in 
this room,—some from a light leather, and some 
from cloth. As the pieces come from the cutting 
tables, they are so grouped with the linings that 
each package represents the uppers for a case of 
shoes. These are ticketed, fastened together, 
and sent to the sewing room. 

In the sewing room we find several long tables 
20 


upon which are arranged sewing machines as 
near together as the operatives can sit and work 
to advantage. As a general thing, each line of 
machines is completed in itself, that is', it con¬ 
tains all the machines necessary to prepare the 
uppers for the sole. Each machine does but 
one thing; and the operative soon acquires a 
degree of skill which enables he.r to do that with 
a great degree of rapidity. One sews the vamp 
to the quarters, another sews the quarters 
together, another makes only buttonholes, 
another sews the binding, and so on, until the 
pieces have passed down the table and come out 
a finished upper ready for the sole. 

The cutting of the bottoms is entirely different 
from that of the uppers. The stock is heavy 
and hard to work, consequently needs heavier 
machinery and stronger tools. The insoles are 
usually cut by hand—the workman using a die 
having the shape of the sole, and driving it 
through the leather with a heavy mallet. The 
outer soles are mostly cut by machines.. The 
sides of leather are first cut into strips, the width 
of the strip being the length of the sole. These 
strips are rolled and run through the splitting 
machine, and then placed in a machine having a 
knife moved by a revolving table. The path of 
the knife is the outline of the sole, and it cuts 
the bottoms very rapidly. The heels are usually 
cut by hand by the use of dies, as in this way 


nearly all of the small pieces can be used, anri in 
order to prevent waste some dies cut on)}'' half 
lifts. These pieces are tacked together by boys 
who build the heels, and make them ready for 
the heeling machine. After cutting, the sole is 
soaked to make it pliable and then put into the 
press which shapes it for the shoe, giving it the 
bend at the instep and toe. 

We now pass to the third department, where 
the sole and uppers meet, and the shoe is com¬ 
pleted. Here we see the greatest skill displayed 
and find the most complicated machinery. The 
last, which is really a wooden foot to which the 
shoe was cut, is first placed in the upper to pre¬ 
vent crushing or deforming; on the bottom of 
the last the inner sole is laid. A workman 
places the whole in a clamp made for the pur¬ 
pose, and with his pincers proceeds to draw the 
upper down and nail it to the inner sole. This 
work is done by hand and requires considerable 
care, so as not to wrinkle the upper ordraw it 
out of shape in the operation. Another work¬ 
man fastens the outer sole with a couple of small 
nails to hold it in position. This is done by a 
machine. If the shoe is to be sewed, it now goes 
to the welt machine which cuts a groove for the 
stitches, and from there to the McKay sewing 
machine which sews the sole in place. This 
' machine is a very interesting contrivance. It 
has two points resembling needles, and opera- 
22 


ting one on the inside of the shoe and the other 
on the out. They come together very much like 
the thumb and forefinger. One carries the 
thread, which passes through a pot of melted 
wax on its way, while the other has a hook very 
closely resembling that on an ordinary crochet 
needle. With this 
hook the loop is made 
which completes the 
stitch. After sewing, 
the welt is cemented 
and pressed back into 
place so perfectly that 
it does not show at all. 

Nailing and wire¬ 
sewing machines fast¬ 
en the soles on to 
cheaper grades of 
shoes, and are equally 
ingenious. The nail¬ 
ing machine makes its 
nails from a little rib¬ 
bon as it uses them, 
and will nail a sole to 

a shoe as quickly as it can be sewed. The wire 
cable machine uses a brass wire on which a 
thread is cut. This machine inserts the wire, 
turns it half way around, so as to get the effect 
of the thread, and cuts it off at the right length. 
Since the invention of this machine, pegged 
23 



MCKAY SEWING MACHINE 



shoes have almost wholly disappeared from the 
market, as the cable-sewed shoe has taken their 
place. The heel is now attached by the machine 
already described, and the shoe is ready for fin¬ 
ishing. 



COPELAND RAPID LASTER 


The heel is turned and fashioned on a lathe, 
the edges of the sole are next trimmed and fin¬ 
ished, and the shoe passes on to the blacking 
and polishing machines. These usually occupy 
a room by themselves known as the finishing 
room. Here all the delicate touches which have 
for their purpose giving the shoe a stylish 
24 




appearance, are put on. This room exists for 
the benefit of the market, as the operations do 
not add in the least to the benefit of the shoe. 
Here the soles are sand-papered, and polished 
so as to give them that peculiar white appear¬ 
ance so often seen. Most dealers have their firm 
name stamped upon the shoes, and this is also 
done in this room. 

After leaving the finishing room laces need to 
be inserted, or buttons sewed on, as the case 
may be. The shoes are then packed for ship¬ 
ment. If of high grade they are usually wrapped 
in tissue paper, and each pair is placed in a sep¬ 
arate box. Cheap shoes are packed in the large 
cases without separate boxing. 

The marvelous rapidity with which the work 
is now done is in marked contrast to that of the 
old-fashioned shop, where a pair of shoes was 
considered a good day’s work for one man. A 
few years ago a distinguished gentleman from 
England visited one of the factories in Lynn, and 
expressed his desire to learn the time necessary 
to make a pair of shoes. The manager selected 
a woman’s shoe of good standard grade as a fair 
test, and hurried his guest from point to point in 
his attempt to follow the process as the pieces 
left the cutter’s table, until at the end of twenty 
minutes the finished pair of shoes was placed in 
his hands. While this may be considered a fair 
test of rapidity, yet the unusual method used in 
25 


order to pass the shoes through the factory 
undoubtedly took somewhat longer than would 
be required in the regular work; in other words, 
the factory working in its regular way could pro¬ 
duce shoes faster than at the rate of a pair in 
twenty minutes. 

For a long time Massachusetts was the center 
of the shoe industry in the United States, and 
many of her large towns owe their development 
and prosperity to the shoe factories. Within the 
last few years, however, large factories have 
sprung up in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, 
and other large cities, and smaller factories are 
now scattered very generally over the country. 
This industry consumes more leather than all 
others combined. We are now making more 
boots and shoes than we can use, and they are 
beginning to find a ready market in other coun¬ 
tries. During the past five years our export 
trade in boots and shoes and leather has 
amounted to several million dollars annually, 
and it is constantly growing. The total value 
of the boots and shoes manufactured in the 
United States yearly is over #500,000,000 and 
the industry is constantly expanding. 


RUBBER 

Rubber is a substance composed principally 
of carbon and hydrogen, and obtained from the 
milky juice, or latex, of various families of 
plants, mainly found in tropical countries. Most, 
as well as the best, of the commercial crude 
rubber is produced in South America and known 
as Para rubber. In the basin of the Amazon 
and Orinoco occur a number of trees of the 
genus Hevea, belonging to the Spurge Family, 
which yield rubber. The Para rubber is prin¬ 
cipally obtained from a tree commonly known 
as the rubber tree. This is the tree which has 
been introduced into other parts of the world, 
notably Ceylon and British Malayasia, for the 
production of rubber. The Para rubber tree 
attains a height of over 60 feet, about six times 
its girth. The leaves are characteristically 
three-lobed, and the flowers are individually 
small and inconspicuous, but are borne in little 
sprays and are succeeded by dry fruits, each 
containing three seeds resembling the castor-oil 
bean in color. Large quantities of rubber are 
also obtained from the Valley of the Congo 
River in the central part of Africa. 

COLLECTING THE RUBBER 

The trees are tapped by cutting grooves in 
the trunk in such a position that the sap will 

flow into earthen cups placed at the lower end 
27 


of the groove. A good tree yields about 20 
gallons of sap in a season, and this will make 
50 pounds of crude rubber. The sap is evap¬ 
orated by placing it in the sun or holding it 
over a fire. The latter method produces the 
better quality of rubber. The usual plan is to 
have a hollow cone of clay with a hole in its 
apex, which is placed over a fire made of the 
dried twigs and leaves of tropical plants. Into 
this hot smoke a paddle or stick, which has been 
dipped into the sap, is held. As fast as the 
amount collected is dried, more is added on the 
paddle, until 4 or 5 pounds have been collected. 
This mass is then removed from the paddle by 
cutting it through on one side. Several of these 
masses of crude rubber are packed in sacks 
holding about 100 pounds each. 

GUAYULE RUBBER 

Rubber from the guayule plant has recently 
been introduced and now supplies about one- 
seventh of the world’s production. It is 
obtained from a plant closely related to the 
sunflower, whereas the other rubbers are chiefly 
obtained from trees or large woody climbers. 
The guayule is a small herbaceous plant growing 
in heights from a few inches to three and four 
feet, and is found principally in Mexico and in 
Texas, where it is being extensively cultivated. 
The milky juice is extracted from the plant 
28 


either by solvents or mechanical methods, the 
whole plant being removed and treated at the 
factories. The product contains a high per¬ 
centage of resins, and is somewhat soft and 
sticky, but after treatment it is used to mix with 
Para rubber in the manufacture of the coarser 
articles, such as belting, motor tires, etc. 

CORN RUBBER 

A good quality of rubber is made from corn 
oil by vulcanizing the oil. Corn rubber is of a 
coarse texture, but it readily mixes with rubber 
from the rubber tree. It is not so elastic as 
India rubber but is especially well suited to 
making buffers, soles and solid tires. 

MANUFACTURE 

When the crude rubber is received at the 
factory, it is usually full of sand, dirt, pieces of 
bark, bits of leaves, stone and other foreign 
substances, and these must all be removed. This 
is accomplished by first putting the rubber into 
a tank of boiling water, then slicing it into pieces 
with knives, and afterwards putting it through 
a washing machine consisting of a pair of 
toothed rollers. Over these a number of streams 
of hot water are kept running to carry off the 
impurities as the rollers cut and squeeze them 
out, delivering the rubber in irregular strips. 

The rubber now goes to a set of mixing rollers 
29 


in the hopper, where sulphur and other mixtures 
are introduced, and at this stage finely-ground 
portions of reclaimed rubber from old over¬ 
shoes, hose, tires and other articles are all incor¬ 
porated. The mass is now either carried to a 
set of steam-heated rollers to be rolled into 
sheets for coating cotton duck for making hose, 
tires, belting, etc., or to a kneading machine 
preparatory to being pressed into molds of 
various forms. The rubber is never melted but 
usually formed into a plastic state, in which con¬ 
dition it is easy to force it into the molds or 
into the fiber of cotton duck. This latter is 
accomplished by steam-heated rollers, one of 
which revolves more rapidly than the other, 
producing a friction or rubbing which presses 
the rubber thoroughly into the interstices and 
fibers of the fabric. 

Vulcanized spread sheets are produced by 
spreading layers of India-rubber solution, pre¬ 
viously charged with sulphur, on a textile base 
already prepared with a mixture of paste, glue 
and treacle. Vulcanization is effected by steam 
heat, and the preparation on the cloth being 
softened by water, the sheet is easily removed. 
Porous or spongy rubber is made by incorpor¬ 
ating some material which gives off a gas or 
vapor at the vulcanizing temperature, such as 
carbonate of ammonia, crystallized alum and 
finelv-ground, damp sawdust. Uncombined sul- 

30 


phur in the rubber is injurious to it and often 
leads to the rotting of vulcanized goods, but an 
excess of sulphur is generally required in order 
to secure perfect vulcanization. High tem¬ 
perature and a large proportion of sulphur 
produce an extremely hard rubber known as 
ebonite or vulcanite. This takes a high polish, 
and is useful to the electrician on account of its 
insulating properties, and to the chemist because 
vessels of it are unaffected by most chemicals. 
A special kind of vulcanite containing red pig¬ 
ments is used under the name of dental rubber 
for making plates for supporting artificial teeth. 
This form of rubber, slightly modified, is used 
to insulate the telegraphic cables. 

HISTORY 

India rubber was first shown in 1770 by 
Priestley, the scientist, and employed to erase 
pencil marks. Its general use began in 1825, 
when Mackintosh of England took out a patent 
for incorporating a benzine solution of it into 
the fabrics . which bear his name, for water¬ 
proofing them. Goodyear in about 1845 dis¬ 
covered that crude rubber could be hardened or 
vulcanized by adding sulphur to it and heating. 
India rubber is elastic, a poor conductor of 
heat and a nonconductor of electricity. It is 
soluble in neither hot nor cold water, but dis¬ 
solves readily in chloroform, naphtha, oil of 
31 


turpentine and bisulphate of carbon. Besides 
the crude rubber supplied from South American 
and African rubber trees, there are small quanti¬ 
ties produced in Central America, Mexico, 
Cartagena, Java, Penang, Singapore, Assam 
and Natal, from different trees and plants, each 
bearing the name of its source. 

The great demand for rubber has led many 
chemists to attempt its production by artificial 
methods, and, while they have succeeded in a 
measure, yet the cost compared to that of nat¬ 
ural rubber is so great as to make commercial 
success prohibitive. The world's production of 
rubber is estimated at about 100,000 tons per 
annum, about 60 per cent of which goes to the 
United States, where about half of it is used in 
automobile tires. -From "±xome and School Refer¬ 
ence Work” edited by W. F. Rocheleau, and published 
by H. M. Dixo'n, Chicago 


32 


The Little Classic Series 


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2831 Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard— 

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2832 Aunt Martha’s Corner Cupboard— 

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2808 How Little Cedric Became a 
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2835 The Little Brown Pitcher. 

2737 The Golden Bird and Seven Ravens. 

2836 The Little Brown Man. 

2821 Longfellow and Hiawatha. 

2837 The Queer Little Tailor. 

2815 Stories of Old New England. 

2839 Drakestail and Choosing a King. 
2739 Daffydowndilly and the Golden 

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2903 A Christmas Carol. 

2822 Stories of Sir Launcelot and Other 

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2840 Story of Leather, Boots and Shoes.* 

2816 The Story of a Beehive. 

2922 Miss Alcott's Girls. 

2741 Two Brownie Parties. 

2841 The Story of King Corn. 

2817 Stories of'76. 

2925 The Story of Coal. 

2805 Some of Our Birds. 

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2818 Arthur, The Hero King. 

2927 The Story of King Cotton. 

2806 King Arthur Stories. 


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2928 The Story of Sugar. 

2919 The Story of Daniel Boone. 

2929 The Story of Lumber. 

2913 American Naval Heroes. 

2930 The Story of Iron. 

2834 Little Goody Two Shoes. 

2931 Night Before Christmas and Other 

Christmas Poems. 

2907 Our Pilgrim Forefathers. 

2932 The Story of Granite, Copper and 

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2901 The Story of Abraham Lincoln. 

2933 The Story of Marble and Slate. 

2920 The Story of Washington. 

2934 The Story of Fruit. 

2914 The Story of Benjamin Franklin. 

2935 Norse Heroes. 

2908 A Longfellow Booklet. 

2936 Norse Myths. 

2838 The Bluest of Blue Birds. 

2937 Norse Legends. 

2902 The Norse Seamen and Christo¬ 

pher Columbus. 

2915 The Story of the Revolution. 

2909 Henry Hudson and Other Explor¬ 

ers. 

2916 Miss Alcott’s Boys. 

2910 Orioles, Bobolinks and other Birds. 
2923 Famous Poems of Famous Poets— 

For Fourth and Fifth Grades. 

2917 Grace Darling and Florence Night¬ 

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arranged for use in sclv.- 
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The books have been carefully edited, are clearly printed on 
good paper, and have extra strong paper cover. Each book 
in the LITTLE CLASSIC SERIES contains thirty-two pages. 


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Fifth and Sixth Grades 

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2938 The Story of Gold and Silver. 

2911 The Story of Jeanne (Joan) D'Arc. 

3020 The Story of Our Flag. 

2923 Famous Poems of Famous Poets— 

For Fourth and Fifth Grades. 

2939 The Story of Oil. 

2905 The Three Golden Apples. 

2940 Longfellow 9 s Poems. 

2924 The Story of Electricity. 

3002 Rab and His Friends. 

2918 William McKinley. 

3021 The Great Stone Face. 

2912 The Discovery of America. 

2943 The Story of Paper, Pens, Pencils, 

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3019 The Story of Steam. 

2944 The Story of Printing. 

3013 Father Marquette. 

2945 The Story of Newspapers and 

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3007 The Miraculous Pitcher. 

3025 The Story of Robinhood. 

3001 The Story of La Salle. 

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3026 The Story of Motors. 

3014 Famous Poems of Famous Poets— 

For Sixth Grade. 

3016 Rip Van Winkle and Author's Ac¬ 
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3008 The King of The Golden River. 

3027 The Story of Glass. 

2941 The Golden Fleece. 

3028 The Meat-Packing Industry. 

2942 Whittier’s Poems. 

3029 Tennyson's Poems. 

3015 The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. 

3030 Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare— 

Part I. 

3031 Lamb's Tales from Shakespeare— 

Part II. 


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3009 The Pied Piper of Hamlin and 

Other Poems. 

3011 The Song of Hiawatha—Abridged. 

3003 The Snow-Image. 

3032 Primitive Travel and Transporta¬ 

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3022 The Courtship of Miles Standish. 

3033 The Story of Ships and Shipping. 
3024 Famous Poems of Famous Poets— 

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3034 Ocean Routes and Navigation. 

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3035 American Railway Systems. 

3018 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner. 

3010 Evangeline. 

3036 Horatius at the Bridge, and Other 

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3012 The Cotter's Saturday Night and 

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3037 Lowell's Poems. 

3004 Thanatopsis and Other Poems. 

3006 The Deserted Village (Goldsmith) 

and Gray's Elegy. 

3038 Washington's Farewell Address 

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3122 The Vision of Sir Launfal and 
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3039 Prisoner of Chillon and Other 

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3017 Snow-Bound and the Corn Song. 
3115 The Magna Charta. 

3040 Sir Roger De Coverley Papers. 

3041 Carrying the U. S. Mail. — 

3108 Speeches by Lincoln. 

3005 Enoch Arden. 

3101 Sohrab and Rustum. 

3042 Navigating the Air—Electric Rail¬ 

ways. 

3107 Famous Poems of Famous Poets— 
Eighth Grade. 


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